Terrible Misfortune
by daylightvampire
Summary: One night, I thought about writing a story where Darren gets bit by Madam Octa and Mr.Crepsley must take care of him but chaos ensues when Darren is kidnapped. I rated it teen just in case.
1. Crepsley's Suprise

A/N: So one night I was thinking: Why not have Darren get bit by Madam Octa? So here's the story, enjoy and please read and review (please no flames, I am trying my best here)

Disclaimer: I can't own it! *sobs*

Terrible Misfortune

Chapter 1: Crepsley's surprise

Darren's POV: It had been three years since my encounter with Murlough in the tunnels underneath 's hometown. I was back at the Cirque Du Freak, going about life as usual, talking to Evra in our tent when walked in and beckoned me out the door. As soon as I was out the door, grabbed me and ran as fast as he could to his tent. He threw me into a chair and for a split second I thought I was in trouble, although I couldn't think of anything I did wrong. I was drinking blood; I did my chores, what could it be?

I soon realized that I was not in trouble, was grinning from ear to ear with excitement.

"Darren," He began "You have been in the act with Madam Octa but only as a small time assistant and I understand that when Gavner came, you took over for me" He took a breath and started again "I have been thinking that I have not been giving you much credit. What do you think of having a major part in the act?"

There was a long silence that followed that question. I was beside myself with confusion and excitement.

"What will I be doing" I asked. looked thoughtful for a moment then he replied.

"I was thinking that of _me _playing the flute while and we have Madam Octa spin a web over your mouth"

I jumped up out of my seat and hugged him as he patted my back affectionately. I never got a chance to have Madam Octa spin a web over my mouth, seeing as though I needed someone else to play the flute.

Just then I looked out the window.

"Oh geez, the sun's coming up!" I exclaimed and looked up at "Do you mind if I tell Evra?"

smiled "Of course you can, I have to tell Mr. Tall tomorrow night that you will be in the act. But before we go on, you must practice keeping your composure, we do not want any _incidents_"He grimaced as if he was thinking of something dreadful.

"Good day " I called over my shoulder

"Good day Darren" Came the reply

's POV: I was excited. I could not wait until I could teach Darren how to do the major acts with Madam Octa. Although, in the back of my mind, I could feel a sense of foreboding.


	2. Practice makes perfect

Disclaimer: Don't own it, never have and never will

Chapter 2: Practice makes perfect

Darren's POV: I tossed and turned in my bed. In a few hours, I was to practice with doing the trick we were planning. My alarm clock rang out, signaling that I needed to get up. I put my clothes on and walked out of the tent, towards our meeting place underneath a large tree.

"Good morning master Shan" greeted me. I noticed something in his left hand, it was a cage, it was Madam Octa's cage!

", we can't practice WITH Madam Octa, or can we?" I protested

"Of course we can, do not worry I am here and I have also milked the poison from her fangs"

I relaxed a little knowing I was safe, then the training began. told me to relax my body then blew into the flute. Madam Octa crept up my arm, onto my face, and reached my mouth. It was weird feeling her on my face as she spun her sticky web over my mouth. I felt her jump off my face and into her cage. We did this over and over for five hours until came over and and shut the door to her cage pemenentley for the rest of the night.

"That is all. You did well Darren, I am proud of you"

That was it, that was all we had time for. I bid good day and went to bed. Tomorrow night was going to be a big night and I needed all the sleep I could get!

's POV: I watched Darren go feeling ominous shivers run down my spine. I was afraid, afraid for my assistant but why?

'Darren was going to be fine! But still maybe I should once again milk her again before we go on' I thought to myself, feeling new confidence but that ominous feeling remained.

A/N: OOOH, what's going to happen to Darren? :

Yeah short chapter, I know

Please Read and Review


	3. It's Show time and a tragedy

Chapter 3: It's show time… Disaster!

Darren's POV: To put it into word, I was nervous. My whole body was racking with excitement. The show had already started and the Wolf Man had already gone on stage and came back. and I were the last to go on which made the tension grow the tension grow thicker each minute. Finally Evra went on and did his act and as he came back he wished me luck. As I readied myself, I heard 's voice behind me.

"Are you ready Darren?"

"Yes" I replied with my voice a little shaky and headed out onto the stage with him as Mr. Tall introduced us to the crowd. started to explain about how deadly Madam Octa was and then made her do all tricks I saw when I first came to the Cirque. Just then there was a loud clang within the crowd and Madam Octa scurried to the edge of the stage and the crowd screamed in fear. quickly coaxed her away with the flute; I wasn't sure if that was part of the act or if someone was really trying to kill us.

"You will be safe now," reassured the crowd. Okay, he was going to continue the show; I knew my cue so I place my hand on the table just as Madam Octa climbed onto it. "Please do not make any loud noises; otherwise she will go after my assistant"

Madam Octa climbed up my arm and onto my face. played a tune on the flute and she went onto my chin and, just as taught me, I flung her up into the air and she landed on my mouth. I snuck a quick peek at , his eyes where shining with pride. My spirits sky rocketed; finally he was proud of me!

My happiness didn't last for long though. Just as I flung Octa up again, I heard a loud *BANG* and a surprised yelp from soon followed. I heard an evil familiar laugh, Steve!

How had he gotten in here? I couldn't debate on it long because Madame Octa landed on my shoulder, very close to my neck. A frightened silence had fallen over the crowd, I was shaking all over, and I peeked over at to see him edging closer to me. Steve, of course, screamed "Kill him!!"

Startled, Madam Octa jumped and… bit me. I heard a scream and yelling "Back to your cage!" Then darkness.

's POV: As I started to play the flute, I felt my chest swell in pride. My little assistant was finally doing an act of his own! As Darren tossed Octa into air once again, something slammed against my face causing me to yelp and the flute to slide off the stage. I turned angerly to see who dared to throw something at me. I saw his face as clear as a night with a full moon, it was that demon child, Steve Leopard. Then I noticed that the crowd had grown frighteningly silent, I turned to Darren to see that he was shaking all over and Madam Octa dangerously close to his neck!

'At least I milked the venom out' I first thought to myself then ' Charna's guts, I forgot!'

How could I be so brainless, now Darren was in danger!

I started to creep closer to him, he flashed me a scared look. 'It is alright Darren, I am coming… just a little closer'

"Kill him!!" yelled Steve and I hissed at him but then there was a scream. Madam Octa had bitten Darren!

"NO!!!" I cried at first then snarled hatefully at my spider "Back to your cage!"

She scurried into her cage, one of Mr. Tall's assistants slammed to door shut while he calmed the audience and sent the performers after Steve. I knealed down and scooped Darren into my arms and darted off the stage and out into the night. I needed to get him to my tent as soon as possible, the poison was spreading quickly and I would be dropped on the stakes in the hall of death if I let him die now!

When I was in the tent, I set Darren in my coffin gently and searched frantically for the antidote when I finally realized that I had used the last of it on that Leopard brat. I walked back dejectedly back to my coffin with my poor ill little child resting in it. I pulled up a seat , sat down, and watched as Darren started to grow weak. Vampires are stronger than humans, therefore, Darren would survive at least five more days until he finally went to paridise. Darren started to squirm and cry out in pain and fear as the nightmares from the poison filled his head. At that, I decided to crawl in with him, the sun was coming up anyway.

As I shut the coffin lid, I felt my assistant snuggle closer to me as a tiny babe would with it's parent. My assistant, my son, was dying and there was nothing I could do about it. The best I could do was cuddle him and comfort him until it was his time to go. I then drifted into a dreamless sleep filled with sadness and worry.

Please Read and Review


	4. Darren's cured, sort of

Chapter 4: Darren's cured… sort of

A/N: wow! I didn't know that my story would be well liked already! O.O

Thanks, and here's the next chapter! P.S: Don't worry Darren's not going to die; he's just going to be in a lot of pain O-O

Disclaimer: I have already typed that I don't own Darren Shan's genius master piece and its characters in the last chapters…. That should be enough for you people! ;)

's Pov:

I woke up in the evening and rolled over onto my side. Then suddenly I shot up, Darren was on neither side of me and I was sure that he had been asleep at my side. I then threw the coffin lid open, jumped out, and searched frantically around the tent.

At first I thought that last night was just a horrible nightmare but then I looked towards the tent entrance just in time to see Darren come in looking as though nothing terrible happened to him in the previous night. I hurried over to him and checked him from head to toe.

"What the heck, what are you doing?!" Darren asked, confused

I looked at him and thought about what to say. Then I noticed that he was perfectly normal for a half vampire. Normally if one was poisoned by Madam Octa, they would be unconscious.

"Darren you were poisoned, you should be in the coffin resting. How is it why is it that you are up and walking around?"

"I don't know, I just remember a man opening the coffin lid, knocking you unconscious (not physically of course), and blowing some weird liquid into my neck wound!" Darren took a breath and waited for me to respond.

I checked him over again, more thoroughly this time. He had a normal pulse, his skin was less white, but when I made a little cut in his arm and sniffed the blood. I found out that just a little of the poison was still left in him. I did not care though, Darren was going to live, and that's all I cared about. 'My child is going to be alright' I thought happily 'But who cured him, it could have not been Hibernious'.

's Pov:

Yes, I cured the child; I was not going to let that stupid spider ruin my plans for the boy. On the other hand, I have not seen someone in so much pain in a long time. It gave me pleasure to the poison hurt not only the boy but that insufferable vampire as well. So I left a little of the poison in him to see how Larten would react if Darren were to go into pain every now and again and when I have had my fun, I will cure him completely.

Please Read and Review


	5. Mr Crepsley's new child

Chapter 5- Mr. Crepsley's new child

A/N- I don't exactly know what's going on with my stories but as most of you have pointed out, the point of views have been somehow left out of the story so I will try to fix that as soon as I can. I am trying out a new method for this chapter and if it works, then you should be able to tell whose point of view it is. By the way, the person who cured Darren was Mr. Tiny. So in this chapter there are a lot of sentimental father/son moments. Enjoy! :)

(Mr. Crepsley's POV)

Soon after I checked him over, I sent Darren back to his tent just as Mr. Tall walked in with Madam Octa.

"I thought that it was time for you to forgive the Madam, seeing as though she is only a spider and she reacted as any other spider would if they were frightened"

I started long and hard at my spider then sniffed and proceeded to place the vials back on their shelves as they were knocked around in my frantic search for the antidote. I heard Mr. Tall sigh and I guessed that he was also shaking his head as well.

"Larten, just look at yourself. You are acting like a five year old child instead of a 200 year old vampire!" he scolded "Forgive Madam Octa and take her, I cannot keep caring for her. Darren was not killed, you should just-"

"What if he was?!" I cut him off angrily "What if Darren was not cured and he died, all because that insufferable spider cannot learn to control her fright?!"

There was a long silence in which Mr. Tall stared at me shaking his head.

"Fine Larten, I will find someone to temporarily care for her but you must use this time to think over those statements you just made and hopefully realize how foolish they sound" Mr. Tall walked toward the door then turned once again "Larten, I know you care for that child more than anything else on the face of the Earth. Which is why you should keep him close, protect him, be a father to him. God knows you want to be and Darren will need someone to look after and love him; I fear there will be much pain ahead for him"

I stared wide eyed at him as he walked out the door and just as he did so, there was a scream and cries for help. Hiberneous ran back in and said…

"Larten, you had better come. That demon child has come back and from what I hear, he has your son cornered!"

(Darren's POV)

I had just walked out of Mr. Crepsley's tent when I ran into Evra.

"Oh man, I thought you were going to die!" he said smiling with relief and I grinned back at him.

"That makes two of us!'

We walked around the camp to stretch my legs; they hurt from sleeping in Mr. Crepsley's coffin all day with him. We got happy and relieved statements everywhere we went from performers and workers. Like, "Great to see you back Darren!" or "I'm glad you're feeling better!"

That was the thing about the Cirque, we were all a family and if one of us got hurt then everybody would worry. Evra rambling on about new performers joining the circus but I didn't really pay attention to him. My mind was full of questions as to why I woke up in Mr. Crepsley's coffin and him in it WITH me. Not only were we sharing his coffin but Mr. Crepsley was holding me tight to his chest and mumbling things in his sleep like ' Don't you dare come near him again' or when I tried to break free from his grasp, 'Darren, obey me I am your guardian'. I thought that he could care less about me.

Suddenly, a voice broke through my musings "Hey, who are those guys?"

Evra and I turned toward the camp entrance, sure enough we had visitors but these were not the type you would want to sit down and recall old times with. It was Steve and a few vampaneze (obviously some of his new friends) he brought along with him. Steve motioned for the vampaneze to go after the performers while he dealt with me. Steve leaped on top of me and I kicked him off but he eventually backed me into a corner where he held a sharp knife to my heart.

"The spider may not have killed you, but I will!" he snarled

Just then, Steve was lifted off his feet and thrown into a wooden picnic table and my savior pushed further into the corner with his back still turned to me. When I looked up at the back of his head, I saw a familier shade of orange that could only belon to my mentor. Meanwhile, Steve was being helped up by his friends and all together they advanced on us. At this point, I couldn't recognize Mr. Crepsley at all. His eyes seemed to have turned red with rage and he was snarling like a wolf protecting it's pup from enemies.

Steve just sneered and said in sarcastic voice

"Awwww look, big bad old Crepsley's gone all soft for his wee little assistant!"

The Vampaneze jeered and laughed at Mr. Crepsley and continued to advance. Suddenly all of this became too much for me and almost hit the ground before Mr. Crepsley caught me/

"Darren!" he yelled "It is alright, I have got you"

Steve was in the background and he said "Well boys, looks like we don't have to do a thing the poison'll finish him off!" he laughed and jumped onto one of the vampaneze's back and they flitted away.

I could vaguely see Mr. Creplsey picking me up in his arms and carrying me to his tent and placing me in his coffin. After he took his cape off, he settled in next to me, nestled me into his arms, and began to stroke the back of my head. I remembered in my early childhood how my parents used to do this when I was sick or if I had a nightmare. At that moment I realized that I no longer had them as parents anymore, it was the vampire, Larten Crepsley, who was now my father. I looked up at Mr. Crepsley and let out a tiny whisper that I knew only he could hear.

"Daddy?"

With my ultra sensitive half vampire eyes; I could see Mr. Crepsley smile and nodding his head before he leaned foreward and placed a paternal kiss on my forehead and whispered "Good day, my son"

That was that, I now had a father and even the nightmares that had once plagued me, due to Madam Octa's poison, couldn't affect me with this extremely happy thought in my head.

A/N- was the kiss on the forehead too much?

Please let me know but be nice about it and please leave nice reviews! :D


	6. Kidnapped!

A/N: Woo! Chapter 6, and nearly forty reviews! Thanks for all of your support! : D

I want to thank all of the people who helped me out of my first writer's block (not really pleasant T-T), I really enjoy all of your reviews so keep them coming! : D

Chapter 6: Kidnapped!

(Mr. Crepsley's POV)

A week has gone by since Darren's poisoning. In that time our bond has finally connected, Darren had taken to calling me "Dad". We were father and son and nothing could change that.

Presently he and I were sitting on a hill looking toward the stars. I was telling him about the stories that were connected to them. Suddenly Darren started shivering, that was one of the side effects of Madam Octa's poison. I took my cloak and put it around his shoulders and pulled him into my lap cradling him.

"Dad?"

"Yes Darren?"

"What would you do if I was kidnapped?"

I looked down at my son, confused. "Why would you ask that?"

Darren shrugged "This may sound weird but I had a nightmare where I was kidnapped and someone put more poison into me"

'That's a scary nightmare, for the both of us" I thought but then smiled down at Darren. "I would immediately rescue you and as soon as you were safe, I would go back and throw your kidnapper over a cliff"

"Really? I bet they would start running at the mere sight of you" He grinned

"That is because nobody messes with your dad" I grinned back

I looked out to the horizon; the sun would be up in a few minutes. Darren had stopped shivering and was handing my cloak back to me.

"Come Darren, it is way past your bedtime. Do not worry about your chores, Hibernius agrees that you are in need of a day of rest"

We made our way into camp and parted ways to our tents. As soon as I walked into my tent, a knife flew past my shoulder. On the other side of the tent, was a young vampaneze. In just a few quick motions (I knew back from my days as a general), I knocked the vampaneze out. Despite the sun, I ran out of my tent with only one thing on my mind. I had to find Darren. The vampaneze were obviously after him but for what reason I did not know, it must have had something to do with that Steve brat.

(Darren's POV)

I crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed before a loud bang woke me up. I sat up and tried to look around but was pushed back down by a pair of hands, which smelled like they were heavily layered with sun tan lotion. I took a look at the people around me; the guy in front of me had red eyes and a purple face.

'Vampaneze! How were they able to survive in the sunlight? Surely they would burn-' I stopped in mid-thought 'The sun block, but even if they took a bath in it the sun would still hurt them'

It gave me pleasure that my enemies were still burning even with the aid of a lot of sun block. I struggled as best as I could when he tried to tie up my arms and legs but the poison had weakened me. Out of nowhere someone shouted "Hey!" and a fist connected with my assailant's face and my vision turned red. I was being gripped tightly to a chest and my protector was running. A familiar scent drifted into my nose… Mr. Crepsley.

"Dad, get into the shade or you'll burn!" I cried

"Hush Darren" Mr. Crepsley hissed and held me tighter. Suddenly he let out a yell and fell, dropping me. I looked at him, a knife was sticking out of his thigh. Mr. Crepsley looked up from his wounded thigh and started to hurriedly crawl towards me. Once he had reached me, Mr. Crepsley nestled me back into his arms and with a grunt he made an effort to get up but failed. The knife must have struck some major nerves and badly damaged them. In the distance, our enemies were closing in. Unable to run anymore, Mr. Creplsey just held me in his arms and covered me with his body. At last our enemies had reached us,

"Come on Crepsley, just hand the boy over and we promise we won't cause you anymore trouble" said the lead vampaneze reassuringly.

Mr. Crepsley's response was a growl and pulling me tighter to him. There was a loud thump and Mr. Crepsely let out a pained grunt, his arms loosened around me. I looked up to see the vampaneze kicking him again then he held me tighter as another vampaneze tried yanking me away. Finally after another kick to the head, Mr. Crepsley's grip on me slackened just enough for the other vampaneze rip me out of my guardian's arms and chain me up.

Meanwhile the other vampaneze were slashing at Mr. Crepsley with their knives and swords. He was badly cut up and was losing a ton of blood. "Dad!" I cried repeatedly until the vampaneze who held me captive punched me in the head. Seeing this, Mr. Crepsley let out a furious roar and tried to snap the chains that the vampaneze also put on him. The vampaneze just laughed, picked me up, and started to walk away. Mr. Crepsley continued to roar and struggle until he broke one of his hands lose and tried to reach for me as if he could. After seeing that Mr. Crepsley broke lose the vampaneze, one by one, started to flit. Mr. Creplsey tried to get up again but once again fell back down; this time I guessed was from the lack of blood.

"Darren!" he cried as he made a desperate attempt to crawl towards me and fell but this time, it was from the lack of blood.

"Dad!" I cried for him until the vampaneze breathed the knock out gas into me and fell limp as blackness consumed me.

A/N: Hey chapter 6 and guess what it's my birthday! (totally random)


	7. The Plan

A/N: Hi! I am sooo sorry that I have updated for such a long time and-eep! *dodges javelins thrown by the crowd and dives behind a boulder*

DV- WHERE THE HECK DID YOU GET THE JAVELINS?

Crowd- Walmart!

DV- Good lord they **DO **have everything!O.O

But seriously, I am really sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time.

Oh, and I am awarding a cookie to AngelKitten23 for spotting the Lion King reference in the last chapter. Ironically while I was writing that chapter, my little brother was watching the Lion King and that sequence came on and I thought it would be cute if Larten said that to Darren. Good eyes my friend! :D *Tosses a cookie to AngelKitten23*

So here's chapter 7 and Mr. C gets more serious in later chapters. Stick around cuz at the end I have a surprise for you! XP

Disclaimer: Fate has not intended me to possess such an epic tale T-T *slinks into a corner and goes into a state of self pity*

**Chapter 7: The Plan**

**(Mr. Crepsley's POV)**

I opened my eyes then shut them tightly. There was a bright light above me and I was lying on an examination table. I slowly sat up and looked at my surroundings, I was in the Cirque's medical tent (and who says they can't have a medical tent?). Mr. Tall came in a few seconds later**.**

"Ah, I see you are awake. We found you out in that field just a few minutes before dawn and-" I cut him off.

"Where is Darren?"

Mr. Tall remained silent

"Hiberneous, where is my son?"

Mr. Tall sighed and said "Larten, we have looked everywhere for him but it seems that the vampaneze were long gone by the time we found you. Madam Octa is also missing, they may be using her poison to weaken Darren even more; giving him a slow and very painful death"

My gaze darkened 'The Vampaneze' "Damn those beasts. Exactly how did that evil brat get in touch with them?"

"I do not know Larten but I do know where they are" I looked up at my long time friend with questioning eyes.

"They are in your hometown, underneath the city in the sewers. I am pretty sure you know where I mean"

"But that means-"

"Yes, they have found the body of Murlough and they will stop at nothing to get revenge"

I jumped out of bed and headed for the entrance. Darren was in terrible danger. The vampaneze would definatly torture him first before removing him from the world and my life.

"Larten, where are you going?" Mr. Tall asked

"To rescue my son from those maniacs!"

Mr. Tall placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me back to the bed.

"Not without a plan and backup you are not" Mr. Tall looked towards the tent's entrance and said "Come in"

Two figures stepped into the tent. Both were shrouded to keep out the sun. One of the figures had a bulky shape and the other was slender. The bulky one let out a sad chuckle and said

"Well Larten, you sure got yourself into a pickle. Too bad the little guy had to get involved too"

The figure pulled back the hood of the shroud to reveal that it was Gavner. Gavner turned to the other figure and said "Come on Arra, you know you want Larten to see you!" My jaw dropped to the ground. Arra pulled back her hood and glared at Gavner threateningly. Her gaze softened when she looked back at me and she sighed

"Larten, what were you thinking when you blooded that child?"

Once again my jaw dropped and I looked over at Mr. Tall who smiled back at me.

"Larten, you know of my powers so it should not be a question to how it is they are here. I told them everything so there is no need to explain most of your story but for now I will leave you" With that, he exited the tent. Gavner turned to me and asked

"So, how do we rescue the squirt?"

* * *

**(Darren's POV)**

The whip came down for a second taste of my flesh and blood. My enemies didn't waste time when they brought me to the tunnels and immediately started torturing me under the orders of my ex-best friend.

"Stop" Steve commanded "That's good enough" He came over and bent down by my side and took out a needle. Steve grinned as he waved it in front of my bloodied face tauntingly

"Guess what this is? It's the poison of that spider you tried to steal from creepy Crepsley, only in a much smaller dose; so it won't kill you right away"

With that, he injected it into my blood stream. A few seconds later, I threw up my last meal of blood and collapsed to the dirty ground in a coughing fit. Steve just laughed even harder and was followed suite by the vampaneze around him, to them this was the greatest entertainment.

"Hey, watch this!" Steve laughed as he kicked me and ordered another vampaneze to slice me with his sharp figure nails. After the vampaneze had carried out his orders, Steve kicked me even more until he grew tired of doing so.

"HA HA, does it hurt Darren? Good, cuz you deserve it" Steve left laughing with his vampaneze friends on his heals. Once Steve was gone, I let my tears flow freely. I was in pain, I missed the peaceful life at the Cirque Du Freak, but most of all I missed my dad; Mr. Crepsley.

'Please come get me soon dad' I thought as I slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

A/N: WOW, this chapter sure was dark... and short O.O

But don't worry, I will write a longer chapter next time ^.^

Anyway, time for the surprise!

I asked an artist on the website, deviant , to draw some pics for this story and she agreed. So you can get to the pic by clicking the link at the top of my profile. Her username is "Fadedflight"

See ya next chapter, and please don't forget to review. Don't be shy!

"Everybody Everybody, get down get down down. Stand up, don't be shy. People People come on get up get up. Everybody Testify!"

...Sorry, that was a quote from "Repo! The Genetic Opera" and I couldn't resist ^.^;

I guess I should put a disclaimer for that too

Disclaimer: I do not own the awesomely gory movie/opera "Repo! The Genetic Opera". It's sad how people can't own the awesome things in life T-T

*DV*


End file.
